Critical and Commercial Reception
"Dirty Diana" received mixed reviews by contemporary music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, a writer for Allmusic, felt that "Dirty Diana" and "Man in the Mirror" were "showcasing Jackson at his worst" on Bad. Music critic Robert Christgau viewed "Dirty Diana" as a "misogynistic as any piece of metal suck-my-cock". Jon Pareles described "Dirty Diana" as 'reducing" Jackson to a "terrified whimper". Davitt Sigerson of Rolling Stone gave the song a more positive review, though calling it a "filler", she still commented that the song, along with "Speed Demon" is what makes Bad "richer, sexier, better than Thriller's forgettables". Sigerson noted that "Dirty Diana" was a "substantial recording" because of its "insubstantial melody." Jennifer Clay of Yahoo! Music commented that while Jackson's edgier image was a "little hard to swallow", the image, musically, worked on the songs "Bad", "Man in the Mirror" and "Dirty Diana", but was not "to the degree of Thriller".
"Dirty Diana", similar to Bad's previous singles, charted within the top twenty and top ten worldwide. It peaked at number one on the United States Billboard Hot 100 on July 2, 1988, after nine weeks on the chart. "Dirty Diana" was the album's fifth consecutive single to peak at number one on the Hot 100. Internationally, "Dirty Diana" charted within the top thirty positions on several music charts. The song peaked at number one on the Spanish charts, where it stayed for one week only. The song also charted within the top five in Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, peaking at number two, three and five respectively. The song entered the United Kingdom charts on July 16, 1988 at number fourteen, and the following week the song went to number four, where it stayed for two weeks.
"Dirty Diana" peaked at number six in Italy, number seven in Austria, and charted at number nine in France. The song charted at number seventeen in Norway, as well as charting within the top thirty, peaking at number twenty-nine and thirty, in Sweden and Australia respectively. Following Jackson's death in June 2009, his music experienced a surge in popularity. In July 2009, "Dirty Diana" saw a strong chart surge, mainly due to digital download sales. The song charted at number eighteen on the French Digital Singles Chart on July 4, 2009. On July 12, the song peaked at number thirteen on the Swiss Singles Chart. "Dirty Diana" re-entered the United Kingdom charts on July 4, 2009 at number fifty, and the following week peaked at number twenty-six; the song began falling off the charts in the following weeks.
The Weeknd covered "Dirty Diana" on his song entitled "D.D." on the mixtape Echoes of Silence.
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